BOEING ANNOUNCES QUARTERLY LOSS
28 Jan 09. The Boeing Company’s [NYSE: BA] fourth-quarter net income declined to a loss of $56m, or $0.08 per share, reflecting the now-settled machinists’ strike (EPS impact estimated at $1.09 per share), a charge related to the 747
($0.61 per share) and a litigation-related reserve ($0.09 per share).
Revenues for the quarter declined 27 percent to $12.7bn, due primarily to the effects of the strike which reduced commercial airplane deliveries by approximately 70 units and revenues by an estimated $4.3bn.
For the full year of 2008, net income fell 34 percent to $2.7bn, EPS was $3.71 per share, and revenue fell 8 percent to $60.9bn. Full-year results were impacted by the strike, the 747 charge, the litigation-related reserve, and higher costs for AEW&C announced in the second quarter, which together reduced full-year EPS by an estimated $2.56 per share. This was partially offset by lower pension and deferred compensation expenses.
“The progress we made in many areas of Boeing during 2008 was outweighed by the impact of the strike and our performance on some key development programs,” said Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer Jim McNerney. “Our imperative going forward is improving execution where it needs to be improved, maintaining strong performance across all our production programs, and preserving our financial strength to grow in these challenging economic times.”
Fourth-quarter operating cash outflow was $1.6bn, primarily reflecting the effects of the strike. Operating cash outflow for the year was $0.4bn, and free cash flow was negative $2.1 billion. Total company backlog at year-end was a record $352bn, up 8 percent in 2008 driven by commercial airplane orders and new
IDS contract awards.
4th Quarter Full Year
Cash and investments in marketable securities totalled $3.6 bn at quarter end, down from the end of the third quarter, reflecting strike impacts, previously announced business acquisitions and scheduled debt repayments (Table 3). The company converted most of its marketable securities positions into cash during the quarter.
Segment Results
Commercial Airplanes
Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) fourth-quarter revenues were $4.6bn, 48 percent below the same period last year, driven by reduced deliveries due to the strike that affected production of all commercial airplane programs (Table 4). Losses from operations totalled $968m compared with earnings of $973m in the year-ago period. The strike reduced fourth-quarter earnings by an estimated $1.2bn, net of recovery of galley-delayed deliveries from the third quarter, while a charge for a reachforward loss on the 747 program reduced earnings by $685m.
4th Quarter Full Year
For the year, BCA revenues decreased 15 percent to $28.3bn on an estimated 105 fewer airplane deliveries due to the strike. Operating earnings decreased 67 percent to $1.2bn while margins were 4.2 percent, driven by the strike, infrastructure cost absorption and additional 747 program costs. The strike reduced full-year earnings by an estimated $1.8bn. BCA booked 44 gross orders during the quarter and 669 during the year. Contractual backlog rose to a record $279bn, increasing 9 percent for the year to approximately eight times BCA’s annual revenues.
As announced on November 14, the company expects deliveries of the 747-8 freighter to begin in the third quarter of 2010 and deliveries of the 747-8 Intercontinental passenger model to begin in the second quarter of 2011. The schedule change was caused by design changes, limited availability of engineering resources inside the company and the machinists strike. Since November, a full assessment of the supply chain impacts of these and other additional design changes, coupled with increased pension costs, has resulted in the company recording a reach-forward loss of $685m in the fourth quarter.
The 787 Dreamliner made progress during the quarter despi